Nigeria requires N7.9trn to improve electricity generation in 5 years – Expert

MANAGING Director and CEO of Enugu Electricity Distribution Company, Robert Dickerman, has said that Nigeria needed nothing less than $40 billion (N7.9trn) to improve electricity generation from the current 4,500MW to 20,000MW in five years.
Dickerman was speaking during the keynote of the 2015 West African Power Industry Convention (WAPIC) in Lagos, said that Nigeria’s power sector still has a long way to go in order to achieve extensive growth, as the majority of the population still is without access to power.
He compared Nigeria’s electricity generation per capita to that of India which he said is recorded at 774 units of electricity per capita, while Nigeria generates 156 units making it the lowest electricity generation per capita globally.
Dickerman said that as a result, distribution companies were finding it hard to distribute power to consumers, and generate enough revenue to operate effectively.
According to Dickerman, between 40% and 60% of energy is not being paid for.”The Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry has been in a state of almost constant change and financial crisis since privatisation. One cause of this challenge is a timing mismatch between privatisation expectations and realities.
“The rules of Transition Electricity Market, as declared by the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission require DisCos to remit 100% of their energy and capacity payment upstream, but the industry has not yet solved the puzzle of how to collect anywhere close to 100% of the energy billed to consumers,” he explained.